RK Vardar 1961 () is a professional handball club from Skopje, Macedonia. Vardar is the most successful handball team in the country, having won 16-sixteen national League titles and 18-eighteen League Cup titles. Vardar is also the most successful team in the regional SEHA League, having won five titles and two EHF Champions League titles.
History RK Vardar was founded in 1961 as a part of the Vardar Sports Club in Skopje, which was founded in 1947.
The RK Grafichar Skopje club was established in 1948, and second only to HC Rabotnichki. In 1961, Grafichar was renamed Vardar, and almost all members of RK Partizan Skopje joined the team. The emergence of the ambitious Vardar team presented a challenge to HC Rabotnichki, which was no longer the strong first-league team from the past. Early members of Vardar include goalkeeper Jovanovski, as well as Atanasovski, Zdravkovski, Savevski and Bozinovski. Vardar joined the Yugoslav Handball Championship in 1976 where played for 2 seasons. In the 1980s they spent most of the time in the second division.
The handball team rose to power again in the late 1990s, becoming one of two clubs, alongside RK Pelister, to dominate the Macedonian handball scene after the independence of the country. Vardar has participated in the EHF Champions League eleven times and made it to the semifinals of the Cup Winner's Cup three times. The club achieved either championship or runner-up status in the Macedonian Super League every since 1999, with the exception of 2005, where they finished 4th. In 2018 they became the most winning team in the Macedonian handball championship by winning their twelfth title. They are also the record cup winner with thirteen titles. On April 15, 2012, Vardar defeated Metalurg at the Zagreb Arena to become the first SEHA League champion. The team has won five titles in the SEHA League. The club started the new 2013–14 season with a new management structure, with Sergey Samsonenko as the new proprietor and sports director of the club, and Mihajlo Mihajlovski as the honorary club chairman.
The 2016–17 season was the most successful for the team, as they won the EHF Champions League and the regional SEHA League, the two main domestic championships, the national Handball Super League, and the national Handball Cup. Two days after winning the EHF Champions League, the team celebrated the victory with approximately 150,000 people in a ceremony in Macedonia Square in Skopje. Because of the huge success the current President of the Republic of Macedonia, Gjorgje Ivanov awarded the members of the handball club Vardar a Medal of Merit for the Republic of Macedonia for the results they achieved, especially for winning the Champions League title. The club was awarded the national charter of the country.
In the 2018–19 season, the team won the EHF Champions League, the regional SEHA League and the main domestic championship, the Handball Super League of North Macedonia. One day after winning the EHF Champions League, the team arrived in the country with a private jet and celebrated the victory with approximately 250,000 people in a central ceremony at Macedonia Square in Skopje.
Kits HOME
AWAY
Accomplishments Domestic competitions Macedonian League Macedonian Republic League Winner:(3) 1959, 1960, 1975 Macedonian Handball Super League Winner (16): 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2025–26
Macedonian Handball Cup Winner (18): 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
Macedonian Handball Super Cup Winner (5): 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2026
European competitions EHF Champions League Winner (2): 2016–17, 2018–19 EHF Cup Winners' Cup Third placed: 1998–99, 2004–05, 2010–11
Other competitions SEHA League Winner (5): 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Runner-up: 2012–13, 2015–16, 2019–20 IHF Super Globe Third placed: 2017, 2019
Individual club awards Double Winners (10): 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2025–26 Triple Crown Winners (1): 2016–17
Arena
Sergey Samsonenko is the owner of the Jane Sandanski Arena where RK Vardar 1961 play all their home matches in the EHF Champions League and in domestic competitions. It's a modern complex with a sports hall of 7.500 capacity. It has its own hotel, spa center, hospital and swimming pool. The arena is named after the Macedonian revolutionary Jane Sandanski.
Team Current squad
Squad for the 2026–2027 season
Goalkeepers 12 Miłosz Wałach 33 Milan Bomaštar 99 Vasil Gogov Left Wingers 2 Mario Stojanovski 10 Mahamadou Keïta 23 Junior Tuzolana Right Wingers 3 Vukašin Vorkapić 9 Goce Georgievski (c) 11 Boban Popovski Line players 18 Milan Lazarevski 27 Kristijan Anastasovski 78 Wiktor Jankowski
Left Backs 15 Leon Ljevar 34 João Pedro Silva 77 Marko Gjorcheski Central Backs 14 Nikola Nechovski 66 Jaka Malus 93 Mattéo Fadhuile Right Backs 13 Uroš Mitrović 48 Mohab Abdelhak
Transfers Transfers for the 2026–27 season
Joining Milan Bomaštar (GK) from C' Chartres MHB Mohab Abdelhak (RB) from THW Kiel Mattéo Fadhuile (CB) from Tremblay Handball Leon Ljevar (LB) (from RD LL Grosist Slovan) Marko Gjorcheski (LB) (from RK Tineks Prolet) Boban Popovski (RW) (from RK Multi Essence)
Leaving Dmytro Horiha (LB) to OTP Bank-Pick Szeged Nicolás Bono (CB) to Fenix Toulouse Handball Marek Marciniak (RW) to Śląsk Wrocław Haruki Kawada (CB) to Caen Handball Miguel Espinha Ferreira (GK) (to Beşiktaş) Marko Bogdanovski (GK) (to HC Butel Skopje) Mario Tankoski (CB) (to RK Struga) Kristijan Stamenkovikj (RB) (to HC Butel Skopje) Miguel Pinto (RW) (to BM Rebi Cuenca)
Transfer History
Transfers for the 2025–26 seasonJoining Uroš Mitrović (RB) from Fenix Toulouse Handball Vukašin Vorkapić (RW) (from RK Vojvodina) Nicolás Bono (CB) from Istres Provence Handball Miłosz Wałach (GK) from Industria Kielce Marek Marciniak (RW) from KS Azoty-Puławy Wiktor Jankowski (LP) from MMTS Kwidzyn Mahamadou Keïta (LW) from Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil Junior Tuzolana (LW) from Cesson Rennes MHB Jaka Malus (CB) from RD Slovan Haruki Kawada (CB) from University of Tsukuba João Pedro Silva (CB) from RK Vojvodina Filip Taleski (LB) from S.L. Benfica Kristijan Anastasovski (LP) from GRK Tikveš
Leaving Marko Srdanović (LW) to RK Vojvodina Stefan Petrić (LB) to GRK Ohrid Matija Nikolić (CB) to RK Vojvodina Mladen Krsmančić (CB) to GRK Ohrid Nilton Melo (LB) to Caen Handball Vuko Borozan (LB) to GRK Ohrid Hanser Rodríguez (LW) to Caen Handball Achraf Margheli (RB) to Espérance Lars Kooij (LP) to Bergischer HC Alen Kjosevski (RW) to GRK Ohrid Mihail Alarov (LP) to RK Alkaloid Tomče Stojanovski (LB) to GRK Tikveš Tomislav Jagurinovski (RB) to Dessau-Roßlauer HV Filip Taleski (LB) to MOL Tatabánya KC
Staff
Professional staff Position Name Head coach Ivan Čupić Assistant coach Tomislav Čupić Goalkeeper Coach Mario Kelentrić Conditioning coach Matej Jovanovski Physiotherapists Rubincho Srbinoski Nikolina Bojadjiska
Management Position Name Owner Mihajlo Mihajlovski President Mihajlo Mihajlovski Executive director Chairperson of the NEDs Emil Ugrinovski
Former club members Notable former players
Stojanče Stoilov Pepi Manaskov Stevče Aluševski Petar Misovski Branislav Angelovski Kiril Kolev Vančo Dimovski Lazo Majnov Naumče Mojsovski Zlatko Mojsovski Goran Kuzmanoski Dejan Pecakovski Radoslav Stojanović Aco Jonovski Marjan Kolev Mitko Stoilov Vlado Nedanovski Martin Popovski Marko Kizikj Dimitar Dimitrioski Zlatko Daskalovski Nemanja Pribak Filip Lazarov Velko Markoski Milorad Kukoski Gradimir Čanevski Petar Angelov Goce Ojleski Nikola Markoski Milan Levov Nikola Mitrevski Daniel Gjorgjeski Nikola Stojčevski Dejan Manaskov Borko Ristovski Filip Taleski Martin Tomovski Tomislav Jagurinovski Mihail Alarov Alexey Rastvortsev Mikhail Chipurin Alexander Dereven Dmitrii Kiselev Pavel Atman Daniil Shishkarev Sergei Gorbok Gleb Kalarash Timur Dibirov Strahinja Milić Ilija Abutović Mijajlo Marsenić Dejan Milosavljev Marko Vujin Vladimir Petrić Alem Toskić Marko Srdanović Stefan Petrić Mladen Krsmančić Matija Nikolić Iñaki Malumbres Aldave Alex Dujshebaev Arpad Šterbik Joan Cañellas Jorge Maqueda Blaženko Lacković Luka Cindrić Igor Karačić Ivan Čupić Lovro Jotić Ante Gadža Mladen Rakčević Stevan Vujović Vuk Lazović Vasko Ševaljević Andrej Dobrković Vuko Borozan Miladin Kozlina Matjaž Brumen Gregor Ocvirk Staš Skube Domen Sikošek Pelko Ante Kuduz Revaz Chanturia Jan Sobol Rogerio Moraes Ferreira José Toledo Leonardo Dutra Dainis Krištopāns Artūrs Kuģis Khalifa Ghedbane Ali Safar Robin Cantegrel Bakary Diallo Jérémy Toto Christian Dissinger Patryk Walczak Jan Czuwara Lars Kooij Yoel Cuni Morales Hanser Rodriguez Nilton Melo Olivier Nyokas Kévynn Nyokas Tawfik Baccar Achraf Margheli Kosuke Yasuhira
Notable former coaches
Ljubomir Savevski Andon Boškovski Zoran Kastratović Stevče Aluševski Vlado Nedanovski Dragan Đukić Dejan Perić Veselin Vujović Raúl González Gutiérrez David Davis Roberto García Parrondo David Pisonero Guillermo Milano
Notable former presidents Sergey Samsonenko Mihajlo Mihajlovski
European competitions record
EHF Champions League